"Hmm... this must be Macaron. It's a very bustling market street. I wonder what it's like inside. Let's part ways here for now."
Everyone can go and explore wherever they like. I'll be going now...
Seeing the bustling street in front of him, Luo Chen greeted them and then excitedly rushed out to find a place he liked.
"Wait... honestly, since the captain's run away, let's split up here and meet back on the ship tomorrow. I'm off now..."
Catherine wanted to call out to Luo Chen but couldn't, so she briefly explained the situation to the others and then walked out with great interest.
"Then I'll be going too..."
George waved to Lulith and the other woman before following them.
Lulith turned and nodded to Singh before following Catherine, leaving Singh alone on the ship, uninterested in the matter.
Shortly after the group left the Isel, several men disguised as ordinary people exchanged glances, then secretly dialed a number using Den Den Mushi ) to inform their contact of their arrival.
"Hmm, is it just my imagination?"
I have a feeling that someone is secretly following me. At the same time, Luo Chen, who was walking on the main street of Macaron, suddenly turned around to look behind him, but only saw people coming and going and did not find anything suspicious. He turned around and asked in confusion.
The moment he turned around, several men who had been secretly following him breathed a sigh of relief and, quite 'coincidentally', brushed past him, pretending not to recognize him.
Because this was a relatively busy street with a dense crowd, Luo Chen did not activate his Observation Haki to perceive the surrounding situation. Firstly, it would be too much of a waste of his energy, and secondly, there were simply too many people and too many distracting thoughts that would affect his perception. That's why he didn't activate it.
call...
Just then, a cheer erupted from ahead, and a crowd of people surged forward, seemingly doing something unseen.
"Hmm, is this... a food review contest?"
Luo Chen was curious, so he stepped forward and looked closely. He saw a large open space in front of him, with a row of stoves in front of him. In front of them stood chefs, each holding a spatula in one hand and an iron wok in the other, constantly stirring and cooking. In front of them sat several judges, their hands clasped together, quietly watching the chefs demonstrate their culinary skills.
"Food judges? Interesting, I'll join and see..."
Seeing that there were still a few empty seats on the judges' panel, which were reserved for celebrities, Luo Chen Luo Chen stroked his chin and said, "If you think you have the ability and fame, you can go up and participate in the comments."
Without a moment's hesitation, he made up his mind, pushed through the shoving crowd, stepped out of the cordon, and walked toward the judges' table.
"Hmm, who is that guy? Doesn't he know his own limitations and dare to go up there?"
Seeing that Luo Chen seemed intent on taking a seat on the judging panel, these people sneered. This wasn't surprising, as a pirate with a bounty exceeding fifty million had previously tried to sit on the panel but was driven off and, attempting to cause trouble, was forcefully killed.
This made the people here realize that the so-called fame had to meet certain conditions, and that ordinary people simply couldn't get to that position. Apart from the two famous food critics, the only people who could sit there were the representatives of the people in charge.
"Hey, wait a minute, you! Stop right there! What are you trying to do?"
Just as Luo Chen got closer and closer to the seat, two soldiers next to the judges' panel raised their weapons, pointed them at him, and shouted at him.
"Huh?! What are you doing? Can't you even bear to look? I came up here to sit in that seat..."
Luo Chen was quite surprised when they called out to him, and said...
"Sit here? Hahahaha... That's ridiculous. Do you know that not just anyone can sit up here? Do you really think you're qualified?"
Upon hearing Luo Chen's innocent words, the two guards and two judges burst into laughter, pointing mockingly at the three empty seats.
"Oh, qualified? You can have someone check my identity; I believe I'm qualified to sit there..."
Upon hearing the guards say that only those with qualifications could sit there, Luo Chen stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and then spoke.
"Checking your identity, interesting. Okay, you stand there first while I go see if you're really qualified to sit here..."
After hearing Luo Chen's words, one of the guards stopped mocking him, but instead looked him over a few times before running to confirm Luo Chen's identity.
"Moshi moshi, it's me. Um, I want to verify someone's identity with you. I'll send his photo over now, and you can check it against him to see who he is... Okay!!"
After saying that, the soldier sent over the photo of Luo Chen that he had just taken, and the other party called back a short while later.
"Hmm... What? He's actually... I see. Okay, thank you all. I'll go and properly receive him. Oh, and quickly report this to Lord Limon. He already instructed us to keep an eye on him. I'll go and try to keep him occupied and prevent him from leaving... Okay, bye!!"
Click...
call...
"I never imagined that seemingly carefree young man was actually Luo Chen, the pirate Supernovas has recently become famous on this sea. I really misjudged him. I need to hurry over and apologize to him properly to avoid him holding a grudge against us..."
After hanging up the phone, the man let out a sigh of relief and then hurriedly ran to greet Luo Chen.
Tap... Tap... Tap...
"Hmm, that guy finally finished. It took him so long to investigate one person. Could he really just be some insignificant little pirate? If so, I'll have to give him a good thrashing later, so these people know that not just any little cat or dog can sit in this position."
His companion, who was waiting for him ahead of him, was very suspicious of Luo Chen's identity because his partner had taken so long. He gripped the hilt of his knife and looked at Luo Chen with an unfriendly expression, muttering to himself.
Just then, Luo Chen suddenly smiled back at him, glancing at him with a mysterious smile without saying anything.
Just now, he noticed the guard's unfriendly gaze, so he secretly activated his Observation Haki to sense his movements. He heard the guard thinking about how to deal with him, this 'minor character', so he smiled at him with a mysterious smile that made the guard feel a little uneasy.
"I... I've already found out his identity..."
Just then, his companion finally ran over, which relieved him. He stared intently at him, wanting to hear who the companion was and whether he was some minor character.
However, his companion completely ignored the expectant looks in their eyes, walked directly to Luo Chen, took a deep breath, and then bowed down in front of him, saying loudly.
"We are truly sorry, Lord Luo Chen. Please forgive our disrespect just now. I cordially invite you to sit in the audience and participate in the preliminary food judging."
"What? What did that guy Fiss just say? He called that kid Lord Luo Chen? No, no way... Could he really be as famous as he says?"
The guard who had been thinking about how to shoot Luo Chen was incredulous at his companion's reaction. At the same time, a sense of fear arose in his heart. He couldn't help but think about what Luo Chen had meant by that smile he had just given him. Could it be that Luo Chen already knew what he was thinking?
"Hey, Cott, what are you standing there for? Come over here and apologize to Lord Luo Chen!"
At this moment, the soldier named Fiss reminded him, implying that he should quickly come over and kneel down to beg for forgiveness, just like him, so that Luo Chen might be able to forgive their offense.